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History

Not many Polish beer consumers realize the richness and heritage of beer drinking tradition. Thousands of years of beer history have significantly contributed to the world's heritage. The oldest traces of brewing come from Mesopotamia more than 6000 years ago. The local Sumerians deemed beer, referred to as sikaru, so important that they honoured it with a single deity – the beer goddess called Nikasi. In ancient Egypt beer, related to as zythum, was a cult object.

The patron of brewers was Osiris while Isis would take care of cereal. At that time beer was also a household name in China; the local tsiou, made from millet and used as offering to the ancestors. Since then the beverage has accompanied all civilizations and cultures.

Over time beer was brought by merchants to Europe although for many years in ancient Greece and Rome it was considered a barbarian drink. It was on the old continent where beer gained greatest popularity and where over centuries its production would be enhanced in many ways.

Over thousands of years of its existence, beer would change its formula, colour and taste yet its popularity persisted regardless of the geographic location. In order to grasp the richness of beer forms many names have been invented. At present beer tends to be divided by types and their production technology.

Production history

The history of beer production originated 12 thousand years ago. The cradle of beer production was probably Asia Minor. Beer owned its original character to the fermentation process of dough made from barley and wheat flour and then subjected to fermentation in water. The resultant turbid alcoholic beverage became the prototype of contemporary beer.

2000 B.C. - the Babylonian empire
The increasingly more complicated social structure beer became more popular. Its taste and appearance were still very different from its contemporary rendition: the beverage was primarily turbid and dark. It was Hammurabi himself who cared personally for production quality standards and consumer satisfaction in his famous code. It provided for significant pecuniary fines imposed on dishonest brewers. When beer turned out unfit for consumption, its producer could even be drowned in his own product.

1700 B.C. - ancient Egypt.
The patron of beer producers became Osiris himself and the beverage enjoyed visible success. Egyptians would drink several types of beer referred to as ZYTHUM. The lower strata of the society would stick to its pale variety. Every worker employed at pyramids construction was eligible for a daily allowance of 5 l of beer. Dignitaries, higher rank officials and priests preferred the dark varieties with enriched taste and aroma resulting from adding honey, ging-seng and dates.

The first brewers could only rely on their own senses and instincts when evaluating their products. Often they would resort to what we consider funny modes of forecasting beer quality, e.g. placing an oak bench and pouring it with abundant fresh beer. Next a brewer clad in leather trousers would sit on the bench. When he got up after several hours and the bench raised with him it was an indication of the beer's good quality.

Since the nature of chemical processes taking place at beer production was comprehended much later, brewing would long be accompanied by superstitions while the brewer was considered a slightly magical figure. Hence the popular amulates and magical signs in breweries. For example it was largely believed that certain days of the week or loud talks affect beer quality.

World of Beer

See also

History